Executive Team
The Executive Team (ET) comprises An tUachtarán and the senior officers of Mary Immaculate College, and is responsible for the operational management of the College. The President is the Chairperson of the Executive Team. The members of the ET are appointed by An tUachtarán who is responsible for formally advising An tÚdarás Rialaithe of the composition of the ET and of any changes to it, which may occur from time to time.
The ET, through An tUachtarán, is accountable to An tÚdarás Rialaithe and its subcommittees. An tUachtarán, together with the ET, is responsible for the operational management of the College and may appoint such management advisory group or groups and committees as they deem appropriate from time to time, to advise them in this role.
Dermot Nestor was appointed as the 11th President of Mary Immaculate College (MIC) on 11 November 2024.
Before joining MIC, Professor Nestor established a distinguished academic and administrative career at the Australian Catholic University (ACU). As a Professor of Hebrew Bible in the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, he also served as the National Head of the School of Theology and for an extended period held the role of Executive Dean for the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy. Professor Nestor joined ACU in 2011 from the School of Religion and Theology at Trinity College Dublin (TCD).
At TCD, he completed his PhD on the topic of ancient Israelite identity under the guidance of Professor A.D.H. Mayes, and with the support of a prestigious Government of Ireland Postgraduate Fellowship. His initial doctoral thesis laid a strong foundation for further research and publication on the complex intersections of Israelite history, religion, and identity along with more recent work on materiality and participatory models of cultural heritage.
Prof. Niamh Hourigan is a Sociologist and Vice-President of Academic Affairs at Mary Immaculate College.
As Vice-President of Academic Affairs, she is responsible for managing the academic activity of MIC and maintaining intellectual quality of the institution’s teaching and research. She also oversees a range of functions across the College including Student Academic Administration, Student Life, Teaching and Learning as well as Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Interculturalism.
She is currently a member of the Teaching Council, a member of the Board of the Central Applications Office (CAO) and a member of the Irish Department of Justice’s Review Team of Civil Legal Aid. Prior to her appointment at MIC, she served as Head of Department of Sociology at University College Cork. She began her academic career as Course Director of the BA Economic and Social Studies at NUI Galway.
Prof. Hourigan has worked for four Irish universities and has published widely on a variety of themes including value change, minority cultures, education, corruption, crime, and community violence. She has led research projects funded by the Irish Aid, Universities Ireland, and the Irish Research Council. Her sole authored books include Rule-breakers: Why ‘being there’ trumps ‘being fair’ in Ireland (Gill and Macmillan, 2015) and Escaping the Global Village: Media, Language and Protest (Lexington Books, 2003, 2004). She has also edited several texts: Understanding Limerick: Social Exclusion and Change (Cork University Press, 2011), Minority Language Media: Concepts, Critiques and Case Studies (with Mike Cormack, Multilingual Matters, 2007) and Social Movements and Ireland (Manchester University Press, 2006 with Linda Connolly).
Her PhD, which focused on minority language nationalism, was highly commended under the European Union Committee of the Region’s Doctoral Thesis Prize Competition. In 2010, she co-authored The TEACH Report (Traveller Education and Adults: Crisis, Challenge and Change) with Dr. Maria Campbell which mapped challenges faced by young Mincéirs (Irish Travellers) in the Irish education system. In 2011, she received the UCC CACSSS Special Research Commendation Award for her ethnographic research on organized crime and community violence in Ireland.
She has served as editor of the Irish Journal of Sociology and chaired the Editorial Committee of Cork University Press. Having worked as a journalist and radio presenter while completing her PhD, she is a frequent contributor to the Irish media on themes of sociological interest.
Mr Michael J Keane was born in Limerick and educated at Clongowes Wood College. He graduated from UCD in 1989 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and then worked as an articled clerk with Coopers & Lybrand accountants (now PWC). He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1993 with the firm and is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.
From 1993 to 1995 he worked for the relief and development agency GOAL in Sudan and the Great Lakes region of Central Africa. On returning to Ireland he joined Shannonside Oil Co Ltd. an oil distributor servicing the mid-west region as Financial Controller. In 2000, he became Managing Director of Shannonside Oil.
Michael studied with the Trinity College / Irish Management Institute during 2009 and 2010 earning a Master's of Science (Management) degree. In 2013, he joined Mary Immaculate College as Director of Finance and served in this role for three years. He also completed the TMP programme with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education during this time.
In 2016, he was appointed Vice President Administration and Finance at the College. He is part of the College Executive Team, Audit and Risk Committee, Finance and Resource Committee and Equality Committee. He is also a Board member of the Lime Tree Theatre.
Outside of Mary Immaculate College, Michael also sits on the Board and Audit and Finance Committee of Adapt Services in Rosbrien, Limerick. He lives in Ardnacrusha, Co Clare with his family and maintains a strong interest in local sports in particular rugby, swimming and triathlon.
Professor Gary O’Brien was appointed Associate Vice-President of Administration at Mary Immaculate College in September 2007.
This post involves responsibility for the operation of the College Boards including An Bord Rialaithe (the Governing Body), An Bord Acadúil (the Academic Council) and the Executive Team, as well as the Board of Trustees and the various standing committees of the College. The Associate Vice President Administration is a member of the Executive Team and An Bord Acadúil. Gary is responsible for strategic and operational planning, policy development, ICT operations, Corporate Communications, Quality Assurance, and external reporting.
Prior to his appointment, Gary O’Brien lectured in international history and politics at University College Cork and the University of Limerick. He was awarded an academic scholarship in American Studies by the University of Limerick in 1996 and in 2001 he was conferred with a PhD, by UL, for research into the history of American diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
He has also worked in the local development sector and was Research & Evaluation Officer at PAUL Partnership Limerick between 2002 and 2007 where his responsibilities included analysis of social exclusion issues, strategic planning, and policy development.
Professor Emer Ring is Dean of Education at Mary Immaculate College (MIC). Emer worked as a senior inspector with the Department of Education and Skills, a primary mainstream class teacher and a learning/support resource teacher, prior to joining MIC as Head of Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies in 2011. Emer lectures across early childhood and teacher education programmes and supervises research from undergraduate to doctorate levels.
Emer has been principal investigator on a range of national research projects covering areas such as early childhood, primary and post-primary education, inclusion, child/student voice, pedagogy and autism. She has published widely in the area of education and is co-editor and co-author of ‘Autism from the Inside Out: A Handbook for Parents, Early Childhood, Primary, Post-Primary and Special School Settings’ published by Peter Lang, Oxford.
More recently, with her colleagues, Dr Lisha O’Sullivan, Marie Ryan and Patrick Burke, Emer completed ‘A Melange or a Mosaic of Theories? How Theoretical Perspectives on Children’s Learning and Development can Inform a Responsive Pedagogy in a Redeveloped Primary School Curriculum’ for the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). Emer is currently joint-principal investigator on the University College Cork (UCC) and MIC research team, which includes MIC’s Dr Lisha O’Sullivan and Dr Therese Brophy, evaluating the in-school therapy demonstration project across early years, primary, post-primary and special school settings commissioned by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
Dr Ronan Flatley is currently Acting Dean of Arts at Mary Immaculate College.
Dr Richard Butler joined Mary Immaculate College in 2021 as Director of Research. As of November 2025 he is Interim Head of Research.
